Paper Chef

Sunday, 9 October 2011

It is sad but it looks like the Paper Chef is heading for retirement.Other commitments for both Ilva & myself means that we are finding it hard to commit the time that the Paper Chef challenge deserves. And the fact that we have fewer and fewer participants (unless it is baking friendly ingredients) makes it obvious that it is time PC goes to rest. So after 60 challenges, from both Ilva & myself, farewell....

ps. If anyone would like to take over the reins of hosting Paper Chef please contact us.

Wednesday, 7 September 2011

And the ingredients are------

nectarines,

almonds

cornmeal,

green tea,

Do you think you can do something with these four ingredients? I think so and I expect interesting dishes to invade our mailbox (paperchef AT gmail.com) to which you will send your entry before your midnight on Tuesday the 13th of September. If you don't have a blog but want to participate it is just as easy, send me the recipe with eventual photos and I will post it here. Read the Rules and Regulations if you have any questions about whether you can substitute any ingredients etc and start thinking, get creative and enjoy yourself!

Sunday, 28 August 2011

This month everything seemed to be late & us hosts couldn't get our act together, but here it is, the round up for the 60th Paper Chef Challenege!This month the ingredients were: Lamb, Goats Cheese, Flour, and for the fourth ingredient, anything starting with the letter "A".So what did our creative participants conjure up?

To make the pasta:Put your flour and salt in a mound on a clean counter top. Make a well in the centre and place the two eggs in the well. Slowly with your fingertips, start working the flour into the centre of the well. Once all the egg has been incorporated, knead into a dough with the palm of your hand for 10 minutes. Allow to rest for 20 minutes. Once rested roll pasta out to 2mm thick (or use apasta machine) and cut out circles 7cm in diameter. Now start on your filling.

Fry the lamb with the apricots until cooked and brown on the outside. Spoon a little of the lamb/apricot mixture, with some crumbled goat’s cheese into the centre of each pasta round. Brush the edge of the circle with the egg, fold over to make a half moon, and press the edges closed with the tines of a fork.Continue filling rounds of pasta with the remaining lamb/apricot/cheese mixture.

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, and cook pasta in batches - it only takes a minute to cook. Once cooked, remove from the water and allow to drain while making your sauce.

To make the sauce, add pesto and cream to a saucepan and bring to the boil. Allow to simmer for a minute or two, until thickened to your liking. Serve pasta pockets in a bowl, with the sauce spooned over, garnished with a few apricots and some extra goat’s cheese and pesto.

Email us (paperchef AT gmail DOT com) the link to your entry sometime before midnight your time on Thursday 18th August, or if you don't have your own blog, send us the recipe and eventual photos and they will be posted here.

Tuesday, 9 August 2011

Monday, 18 July 2011

I'm late but I was hoping to see some late entries trailing in because not many have dared to enter this time, let's blame it on the quail which can be difficult to find but as you can see there are ways to substitute an ingredient you can't find or you can't eat for some reason (well that post will be added soon, just waiting for the link!). When you do a Paper Chef challenge you need to think creatively not only about what to do with the given ingredients but also how to substitute them in case they are out of season, out of reach or out of your diet. So next time you see an ingredient that can be put in any of the categories above, just think and be creative and have fun-Paper Chef is all about expanding your horizon and limits and having fun doing it! OK? If Paper Chef is to be alive and kicking, please don't just wait for the baking challenges that are the easier ones, dare to cook up something different as well because we need a steady flow of entries here.

Now I will stop lecturing and get on with this short roundup, I am waiting for another entry (it being late is my fault!) from a new participant but I will add it as soon as it arrives.

The first to send in an entry was Karen from Prospect: The Pantry who is an oldie here on Paper Chef with several wins and many entries and I am very glad to see her back in the PC track again! She has made an interesting dish, well she is actually the only one using real quail in her Barbecued Quail with Cabbage Cucumber Slaw. I love that slaw idea, perfect in this heat!

Then last month's winner which means that she is the Judge this month obviously felt inspired and sent in an entry and that is perfectly great as long as she doesn't choose her entry as winner. But I doubt that Astrid of Paulchen's food blog? even touched on doing anything like that. She couldn't find quail so she used chicken in her Apricot-Lime glazed Chicken Wings, it sounds fantastic!

Then Meeta from What's For Lunch Honey? finally dared or more probably, had the time to participate in PC, I have been waiting for this a loong time because knowing how she works, I always thought that PC would fit her hand in glove, she is a very creative cook-just take a look at her Asian Chicken Red Cabbage and Peach Salad and you will see what I mean! She too had to substitute the quail with chicken.

This is the space where I will post the vegetarian entry that I am waiting for!

Thank you to all the participants and to all of you I send a plea - please try to participate in the next edition which will be the 60ieth!

Wednesday, 6 July 2011

So it is time again to start moving those culinary grey cells you have inside your head and get creative because now it is Paper Chef time again. Do you want to know the four ingredients? OK, the randomizer came up with three ingredients and I have decided a theme because I like to vary a bit, always the same is just too boring. You want me to stop rambling and give you the three ingredients and the theme? All right: quail, cabbage and lime are the ingredients and the theme is....July. Yes, an ingredient that is typical where you live in July so there are no difference in difficulty for those who live in the Northern or Southern hemisphere. (If you cannot find quail, you may use those very small chickens that are called Cornish hens if I am not mistaken)

Email us (paperchef AT gmail DOT com) the link to your entry sometime before midnight your time on Wednesday 12th of July, or if you don't have your own blog, send us the recipe and eventual photos and they will be posted here.

Monday, 4 July 2011

It's getting closer to the big day, on Wednesday we kick off again so if you have any new ingredient suggestions, please add them here so I can include them in the ingredient draw in a few days time. Thank you!

Tuesday, 21 June 2011

After a slight delay, the hosts of Paper Chef have submitted their votes for this, the first Paper Chef of the Year & the 58th Paper Chef Challenge. And I do have to say that the votes were very close, so many amazing creations!

But there can only be one winner, and by unanimous decision the winner for this rounds Paper Chef (& the judge for the next round) is:

This is the home of the Paper Chef, the creative cooking competition that takes place every first whole weekend of the month.
You can find information, dates, the current ingredient list, roundups and more here.